What is it about sports and race in America? Question of the Week

More than half a century on from former Pasadena and UCLA star Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in professional baseball, who would have thought that the mirror in which American society’s racial problems are reflected would still be sports so many decades later?

That this is still the case was hammered home by the Donald Sterling situation that has so consumed first the local and then the national conversation — and yes, the media, in which all around the country the story of the racially hateful comments by the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team became front-page news.

One colleague says he knows people who have no interest in sports, or think the Clippers are ships, but yet this issue has resonated with them, and they say they want Sterling out as team owner.

But Sterling, a billionaire lawyer and real-estate mogul, has been hounded by racial issues for years. He was sued for refusing to rent apartments to African-Americans and Latinos. Real questions have been raised about his getting awards from local civil rights organizations for apparently doing nothing more toward the great goal of achieving racial harmony than writing large checks. Why was nothing done about Donald Sterling’s racism until it hit his involvement with sports?

Now, there’s a firestorm. Why? What is it about sports that bring out such strong feelings? Related issues include the ongoing controversy over the very name of the Washington Redskins football team, as well as other teams that use the names of actual Native American tribes. Connected as well would be the issue of gays in sports, one of the very last places in society where coming out is a big deal.

We want to know your opinions on why real-world issues when played out in professional sports become such a larger part of the national debate. Does the fact that serious situations have been plunked into what should be merely games make them seem more serious? Are sports a proper crucible for cultural change?

What do you think?

Send your thoughts to opinion@langnews.com. Please include your full name and city or community of residence. Also, provide a daytime phone number so we can verify the comment. Or, if you prefer, share your views in the comments section that accompanies this article online.